The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-145097 filed on May 17, 2000 including the specification, drawings, and abstract is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an upper body structure of a motor vehicle, more particularly, to an upper body structure of a motor vehicle or the like with an impact absorbing member disposed therein.
2. Description of Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Laid-pen No. HEI 7-187008 discloses an example of an upper body structure of a motor vehicle or the like with an impact absorbing member disposed therein.
As shown in FIG. 5, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 7-187008 discloses an upper body structure of a motor vehicle wherein a roof head lining 102 such as a fabric and so on is spread over a region of a roof 100 provided over a passenger compartment of the vehicle, and wherein a buffer 108 is interposed between a roof side portion 106 and a roof head lining 102 that is located in a side portion of a ceiling.
As shown in FIG. 6, according to a structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 10-338082, a back plate 122 that has been formed with relatively high rigidity and a foam plate 124 that is securely adhered to the back plate 122 and that is relatively likely to be deformed are provided in a roof head lining 120, and an elastically deformable foam strip 130 is provided in a region that is in the roof head lining 120 and that is in contact with a roof side rail 128. Thus, the rigid roof side rail 128 is prevented from hindering the energy absorbing function of the foam plate 124.
However, in the above-described upper body structures, in a case where a passenger bumps his or her head against a central side of the roof side rail, and bumps his or her chin against a region where an impact absorbing member is disposed, such as the buffer 108, the foam strip 130, etc., is taken into account, it is preferred that the deformation load of the impact absorbing member be set at a low value and that the acceleration applied to the head of the passenger be reduced. Therefore, it is desirable to provide an upper body structure of a motor vehicle capable of minimizing the amount of disposal of an impact absorbing member and absorbing impact reliably.
It is an object of the invention to obtain an upper body structure of a motor vehicle capable of minimizing the amount of disposal of an impact absorbing member and absorbing impact reliably.
According to a first aspect of the invention, an upper body structure of a motor vehicle comprises a roof, a ceiling member disposed over a passenger compartment at a predetermined distance from the roof, and an impact absorbing member that is disposed within the predetermined distance and that absorbs an impact resulting from a load from the inside of the passenger compartment. The impact absorbing member has a first impact absorbing portion disposed between an outer peripheral portion of the roof and the ceiling member, a second impact absorbing portion disposed between the ceiling member and a position spaced from the outer peripheral portion of the roof towards a central portion of the roof, and a third impact absorbing portion that connects the first impact absorbing portion to the second impact absorbing portion and that is thinner than the first impact absorbing portion and the second impact absorbing portion.
Accordingly, in the case where the region of the ceiling member where the impact absorbing member is disposed is pressed from the inside of the passenger compartment, the first impact absorbing portion is supported by the outer peripheral portion of the roof, and the second impact absorbing portion is supported by the position spaced from the outer peripheral portion of the roof towards the central portion of the roof. As described above, the third impact absorbing portion connects the first impact absorbing portion to the second impact absorbing portion. Thus, the impact absorbing member is supported at two points. Therefore, the impact absorbing member is surely crushed where it is disposed, without moving or rotating. Thus, stable impact absorption is achieved. Further, since the third impact absorbing portion is thinner than the first impact absorbing portion and the second impact absorbing portion, the amount of disposal of the impact absorbing member can be minimized.
According to a second aspect of the invention, an upper body structure of a motor vehicle comprises a roof having a roof side portion, a ceiling member disposed over a passenger compartment at a predetermined distance from the roof, and an impact absorbing member that is disposed within the predetermined distance and that absorbs an impact resulting from a load from the inside of the passenger compartment. The impact absorbing member has a first impact absorbing portion disposed between the roof side portion and the ceiling member, a second impact absorbing portion disposed between the ceiling member and a position spaced from the roof side portion towards a central portion of the roof, and a third impact absorbing portion that connects the first impact absorbing portion to the second impact absorbing portion and that is thinner than the first impact absorbing portion and the second impact absorbing portion.
Accordingly, in the case where the region of the ceiling member where the impact absorbing member is disposed is pressed from the inside of the passenger compartment, the first impact absorbing portion is supported by the roof side portion, and the second impact absorbing portion is supported by the position spaced from the roof side portion towards the central portion of the roof. As described above, the third impact absorbing portion connects the first impact absorbing portion to the second impact absorbing portion. Thus, the impact absorbing member is supported at two points. Therefore, the impact absorbing member is surely crushed where it is disposed, without moving or rotating. Thus, stable impact absorption is achieved. Further, since the third impact absorbing portion is thinner than the first impact absorbing portion and the second impact absorbing portion, the amount of disposal of the impact absorbing member can be minimized.
In the first and second aspects, the third impact absorbing portion may be in contact with the ceiling member.
In the case where the third impact absorbing portion is in contact with the ceiling member, the impact absorbing member can adhere to the ceiling member over an increased area, and the mountability thereof is improved. Regions of the first and second impact absorbing portions on the side of the roof can be easily deformed towards the thin third impact absorbing portion. Therefore, the crushing widths of the first and second impact absorbing portions are increased, and the stroke of the ceiling member can be increased.
In the above-described aspects, the first impact absorbing portion has a surface facing the roof and a surface facing the ceiling member, and the surface facing the roof may be smaller than the surface facing the ceiling member.
Thus, in the first impact absorbing portion of the impact absorbing member, a load from the inside of the passenger compartment can be received by the greater surface, and the load can be conveyed to the roof portion by the smaller surface. As a result, the load from the inside of the passenger compartment can be reliably supported by the roof side portion or the outer peripheral portion of the roof that has high rigidity.